Up-conversion of a down-converted baseband signal in a direct conversion architecture without the baseband signal passing through active elements

ABSTRACT

A direct conversion circuit that not only down-converts the received modulated signal using a down-converting mixer into a baseband signal, but also, after performing a passive low pass filtering to remove higher-order components, performs up-conversion of the baseband signal using an up-converting mixer. Active elements such as highly sensitive amplifiers do not operate on the baseband signal itself, but on the up-converted version of that baseband signal, thereby reducing the 1/f noise introduced by those active elements. The downstream circuitry after the up-conversion may be coupled by intervening capacitors since the downstream circuitry is operating on a higher frequency signal. Accordingly, the DC offset introduced by the downstream active elements is reduced.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. The Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to analog integrated circuit design, and more particularly, to up-converting a down-converted baseband signal in a direct conversion architecture without the baseband signal passing through active elements.

2. Background and Related Art

Electrical signals have proven to be an effective means of conveying data from one location to another. The further a signal is transmitted, however, the greater the decay in the signal and the greater the chance for irreversible loss in the data represented by the signal. In order to guard against this signal decay, the core electrical signal that represents the data (i.e., the baseband signal) may be modulated or superimposed on a carrier wave in the Radio Frequency (RF) frequency spectrum.

In order to properly interpret the signal, conventional RF receivers extracts the baseband signal from the received signal. The data represented by the extracted baseband signal may then be interpreted by other downstream circuitry. In order to perform this extraction, typical receivers include circuitry which first converts the received radio frequency modulated signal into an intermediate frequency (“IF”) signal. This intermediate frequency signal is then converted into the baseband signal for further data processing. Receiver architectures that convert through the intermediate frequency are often called “heterodyne” receiver architectures. Naturally, circuit elements (called “IF components”) are required in order to deal with the intermediate conversion to and from the intermediate frequency.

It is desirable to reduce the cost, size, and power consumption of a particular receiver architecture design for strategic marketing of the receiver. This is particularly true of wireless RF receivers since those receivers are often portable and run on battery power.

One technology developed in order to reduce RF receiver cost, size, and power consumption is called “direct conversion.” Direct conversion refers to the direct conversion of RF modulated signals into corresponding baseband signals without requiring conversion through the intermediate frequency. Such direct conversion receiver architectures are often also called “zero-IF,” “synchrodyne,” or “homodyne” receiver architectures.

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional direct conversion circuit 400 in accordance with the prior art. The circuit 400 includes an antenna 401 which receives the RF modulated signal. The antenna 401 then provides the received signal to an amplifier 402 which amplifies the signal for further processing. The amplifier 402 may be, for example, an RF low noise amplifier.

The amplified signal is then split into two branches, an “in-phase” branch 410, and a “quadrature-phase” branch 420. Each branch includes a mixer that initially receives the amplified signal. For instance, the in-phase branch 410 includes an in-phase mixer 411, and the quadrature-phase branch 420 includes a quadrature-phase mixer 421. A local oscillator 430 provides a sine or square wave signal as a control signal to each of the mixers. Each mixer is configured to nonlinearly process the amplified signal and control signal, resulting in output signal components at frequencies equal to the sum and difference of amplified signal and control signal frequencies, plus higher-order components at other frequencies. The circuit includes a 90-degree phase shifter 431 which causes the control signal for the quadrature-phase mixer 421 to be 90 degrees out of phase with the control signal for the in-phase mixer 411.

The signal from the in-phase mixer 411 is then passed through a low pass filter 412 to a baseband amplifier 413 to complete the extraction of the baseband (difference frequency) signal from the received signal as far as the in-phase branch 410 is concerned. Likewise, the signal from the quadrature-phase mixer 421 is passed through a low pass filter 422 to a baseband amplifier 423 to complete the extraction of the baseband (difference frequency) signal as far as the quadrature-phase branch is concerned. The in-phase and quadrature-phase baseband signals are then processed by signal processing circuitry 450.

The direct conversion circuit of FIG. 4 does not convert through an intermediate frequency and thus there are no IF components needed to deal with an intermediate conversion. Consequently, the direct conversion circuit of FIG. 4 is smaller, and requires less power than conventional heterodyne receiver architectures. Furthermore, the direct conversion circuit does not have to deal with image suppression as much as do heterodyne receivers.

However, there are some performance issues for the direct conversion circuit of FIG. 4 that limit its practical implementation. In particular, conventional direct conversion circuits suffer from Direct Current (DC) offset and 1/f noise. The DC offset in conventional direct conversion receivers has two primary origins. One primary origin is the down-converting mixer itself in which the DC offset are self-mixing DC products present at the mixer outputs. The other primary DC offset origin is in active elements, such as highly sensitive amplifiers, that operate on the down-converted baseband signal. Such DC offsets can swamp out the much weaker desired signal.

The active element (such as the active mixer and the highly sensitive amplifier) that operates on the baseband signal may also introduce significant 1/f noise. 1/f noise refers to a phenomenon whereby the level of noise introduced by an active element is much higher when operating on signals having a frequency spectrum that favors lower frequencies. Baseband signals tend to have frequency spectrums that tend towards lower frequencies as compared to the modulated form of the signal. Accordingly, the active elements that operate on the baseband signal in direct conversion circuits tend to introduce high levels of noise thereby adversely degrading the signal-to-noise ratio.

Direct conversion circuits have many advantages in terms of size, power consumption, and cost to manufacture. In addition, direct conversion circuits also have good selectivity and the mitigation of an image frequency. However, as mentioned above, many direct conversion circuits also have some drawbacks in the form of increased DC offset and 1/f noise. According, what would be advantageous are direct conversion circuits that have reduced exposure to DC offset and 1/f noise.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing problems with the prior state of the art are overcome by the principles of the present invention, which are directed towards a direct conversion circuit that not only down-converts the received modulated signal using a down-converting mixer into a baseband signal, but also, after performing a passive low pass filtering to remove higher-order components, performs up-conversion of the baseband signal using an up-converting mixer. Active elements such as highly sensitive amplifiers do not operate on the baseband signal itself, but on the up-converted version of that baseband signal.

The up-converted signal has higher frequency components while still representing the same information as the baseband signal. Accordingly, the active elements may operate on the up-converted signal while introducing lesser or no amounts of 1/f noise. Additionally, the higher frequency makes it more feasible to couple the downstream circuitry that operates on the up-converted signal using capacitive coupling, thereby reducing (or eliminating) the DC offset introduced by active elements in the downstream circuitry. Accordingly, the direct conversion circuit in accordance with the principles of the present invention provides a significant reduction in DC offset and 1/f noise as compared to many conventional direct conversion circuits.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and other advantages and features of the invention can be obtained, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a high-level circuit schematic of a direct conversion circuit in accordance with the principles of present invention;

FIG. 2A illustrates a component-level circuit diagram showing further details of an embodiment of the down-converting mixer, a low pass filter, and an up-converting mixer that may be used in the circuit of FIG. 1 as passive elements;

FIG. 2B illustrates a component-level circuit diagram showing an alternative structure for the down-converting mixer;

FIG. 2C illustrates a component-level circuit diagram showing a second alternative structure for the down-converting mixer;

FIG. 3 illustrates a component-level circuit diagram showing further details of another embodiment of an up-converting mixer that may be used in the circuit of FIG. 1 as a passive element; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level circuit schematic of a direct conversion circuit in accordance with the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The principles of the present invention are directed towards a direct conversion circuit that not only down-converts the received modulated signal, but also, after performing a passive low pass filtering to remove higher-order components, performs up-conversion of the baseband signal using an up-converting mixer. Active elements such as highly sensitive amplifiers do not operate on the baseband signal itself, but on the up-converted version of that baseband signal.

In this description and in the claims, one node in a circuit is “coupled” to another node in the circuit if charge carriers freely flow (even through some devices and/or with some resistance) between the two nodes during normal operation of the circuit. One node in a circuit is “capacitively coupled” to another node in the circuit if there are one or more capacitors that intervene between the two nodes. One node in a circuit is “at least capacitively coupled” to another node if the two nodes are either coupled together as just defined, or are capacitive coupled together as just defined.

In this description and in the claims, a signal being “down-converted” means that the signal is operated upon such that its frequency spectrum tends more towards lower frequencies as compared to before the operation, the operation occurring without any loss in the core data represented by the signal. A signal being “up-converted” means that the signal is operated upon such that its frequency spectrum tends more towards higher frequencies as compared to before the operation, the operation also occurring without any loss in the core data represented by the signal.

FIG. 1 illustrates a direct conversion receiver circuit 100 in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The direct conversion receiver circuit 100 includes an antenna 101 which converts a signal over-the-air to a signal on the wire. However, direct conversion circuitry may operate even when the signal is received over a physically channeled conduit such as a wire, in which case there would be no need for antenna 101 since the signal would already be represented on a physical conduit.

An amplifier 102 amplifies the received signal so as to generate a signal of sufficient magnitude upon which to perform subsequent operations. An impedance matching circuit 101A operates to match the impedance of the antenna 101 and the input impedance of the amplifier 102 so as to improve admittance of the signal from the antenna 101 to the remaining circuitry. Such impedance matching reduces reflectance of the signal and improves power transfer as is known to those or ordinary skill in the art. The frequency response of the impedance matching circuit 101A also acts as a band pass filter, which is useful to filter out harmonics of the oscillator 130. The amplifier 102 may be a low noise amplifier of the type commonly used to amplify a received signal in direct conversion receiver circuits.

The amplified signal from the amplifier 102 is then provided to an “in-phase” branch 110, and to a quadrature phase branch 120. The terms “in-phase” is used not to represent that the signal in the branch is “in-phase”, but only to represent that the signal in the in-phase branch 110 after the down-converting mixer 111 is approximately orthogonal to the signal in the quadrature-phase branch 120 after the down-converting mixer 121.

Signals that are passed through the in-phase branch 110 are first provided to a down-converting signal input to differential output mixer 111, which down-converts the signal to thereby extract the baseband signal. A down-converting oscillator 130 provides control signals A, B, !A and !B. Control signals A and B each having a duty cycle of approximately twenty-five percent and are approximately 180 degrees out of phase with each other. Control signals !A and !B are the binary complement of control signals A and B, respectively.

These control signals may be cycled at approximately the frequency of the carrier frequency of the received signal. However, to achieve a substantial reduction in DC offset resulting from the self-mixing product of the mixer 111 at its output terminals, the mixer control signals A, B, !A and !B are operated at a twenty-five percent duty cycle at the frequency of the received signal. Furthermore, control signals A and B (and !A and !B) shift 180 degrees relative to each other. This results in the leakage combination being a square wave at twice the frequency of the received signal. This reduction in DC offset stems from the fact that even if the control signals were to irradiate back to the antenna (and thus introduce feedback into the mixer), the leakage component would be twice the frequency of the carrier frequency of the signal, thereby resulting in very little DC component in the self-mixing product.

Additionally, the mixer 111 has a differential output that results in a reduction of second-order intermodulation product (also often referred to as “IP2”). The second-order intermodulation product is a product of a squaring function. Accordingly, the polarity of the second-order intermodulation product will be the same for each of the differential outputs of the mixer 111. Accordingly, the second-order intermodulation product manifests itself as a common mode signal at the differential output terminals of the mixer 111. The common mode rejection capability of subsequent circuitry that operates on the signal will thus reduce the effect of the second-order intermodulation product.

The signal output from the mixer 111 will not only include the baseband signal having the data of interest, but will also include higher frequency components that do not contain the desired data. Accordingly, the output signals from the mixer 111 are passed through a low pass filter 112 to remove the higher frequency components including all out of band signals and noise as well as the potential secondary image created by the up-converting mixer 113. The output from the low pass filter 112 will thus include only the baseband signal having the data of interest. This low pass filter 112 may be a passive element such as a Resistor-Capacitor (RC) filtering circuit. The low pass filter 112 should have a cutoff frequency that provides sufficient channel selectivity of the baseband signal. This may be accomplished using a four pole low pass filter composed of four RC low pass filters cascaded in series. By so doing, a roll-off of 80 decibels per decade may be accomplished. The use of a passive low pass filter allows for reduced or even eliminated DC offset since such passive elements do not generate the same 1/f noise that active elements do. Also, the use of the passive filter does not significantly reduce dynamic range in the way that an active filter would. The passive components of low pass filter 112 assures that there will not be any consequential degradation of the desired signal by flicker noise and that only a small amount of white noise is added.

Typically, in conventional direct conversion receiver circuits, the baseband signal itself is processed by active elements (such as high sensitivity amplifiers) in downstream circuitry. However, such active elements introduce significant 1/f noise since the baseband signal has a frequency spectrum tending towards lower frequencies. “1/f noise” refers to an effect whereby active elements introduce more noise when operating on lower frequencies, than they do on higher frequencies. Such an effect is common in any active elements. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, active elements do not operate upon the baseband signal itself, but on an up-converted version of the baseband signal. Accordingly, the noise introduced by the active element on the up-converted version of the baseband signal is much lower thereby preserving the dynamic range of the direct conversion receiver as a whole.

Specifically, the filtered baseband signal output by the low pass filter 112, is passed to an up-converting mixer 113 controlled by control signals E and !E provided by an up-converting oscillator 132. The control signals E and !E have a duty cycle of approximately 50% (or 25%) and are 180 degrees out of phase with each other. Additionally, the cycle frequency of the control signals E and !E is equal to the cycle frequency of the control signals A, B, !A and !B divided by some positive integer greater than one. In order to accomplish this, the down-converting oscillator 130 and the up-converting oscillator 132 may be interconnected as illustrated by arrow 131 so to enforce this frequency division relation. This may be accomplished using conventional frequency division circuitry. Accordingly, the mixer 113 outputs an up-converted version of the baseband signal, which has a frequency spectrum tending towards higher frequencies than does the baseband signal itself. The frequency of the mixer 113 may be chosen in conjunction with the low pass filter 112 cutoff frequency to provide a desired level of image suppression from input signals spaced at integer multiples of the lower frequency of the mixer 113 from the baseband output of the mixer 111. Thus, the modifications of the direct conversion architecture not only provide reduction in DC offset and 1/f noise, but also retain the benefit of image suppression characteristic of direct convention receiver circuits. Amplification may be performed on the intermediate frequency signal output by the up-converted mixer 113 without the flicker noise of the amplifier introducing consequential degradation into the signal.

The downstream circuitry that includes active elements then operates directly on this higher frequency version of the baseband signal. Accordingly, the active components, such as amplifier 115, do not introduce as much 1/f noise. Furthermore, the subsequent circuitry may be interconnected via intervening capacitors since a higher frequency signal is being processed. This reduces and potentially even eliminates the impact of any DC offset or drift introduced by the active components as well. For instance, the differential outputs of the up-converting mixer 113 are passed to the amplifier 115 via capacitors 114A and 114B. The differential outputs of the amplifier 115 may be provided to a band pass filter 117 via capacitors 116A and 116B. The differential output of the band pass filter 117 may be provided to signal processing circuitry 140 via capacitors 118A and 118B.

The quadrature-phase branch 120 is similar to the in-phase branch 110 in that the down-converting mixer 121, control signal C, control signal D, control signal !C, control signal !D, low pass filter 122, up-converting mixer 123, control signal F, control signal !F, capacitors 124A and 124B, amplifier 125, capacitors 126A and 126B, band pass filter 127 and capacitors 128A and 128B may have the same structure and interconnections as described above for their respective elements in the in-phase branch. However, the control signals C, D, !C, !D, F and !F will be 90 degrees out of phase with respective signals A, B, !A, !B, E and !E.

The use of a quadrature-phase branch 120 is helpful in that it allows the receiving cycle to be asynchronous with the modulation cycle. However, in the event that the in-phase branch 110 is synchronized with the modulation cycle of the received signal without the use of the quadrature-phase branch 120, the quadrature-phase branch 120 would not strictly be necessary.

FIG. 2A illustrates a specific embodiment 200 of an interconnected down-converting mixer 211, low pass filter 212, and up-converting mixer 213, which may be examples of down-converting mixer 111, low pass filter 112, and up-converting mixer 113, respectively, of FIG. 1.

The down-converting mixer 211 has one input terminal and two output terminals. Field-effect transistors 261 through 263 are coupled with their channel regions in series between the input terminal and the upper output terminal of the down-converting mixer 211. Field-effect transistors 264 through 266 are coupled with their channel regions in series between the input terminal and the lower output terminal of the down-converting mixer 211. Field effect transistors 261, 263, 264 and 266 have their source and drain connections shorted. To minimize charge injection while accomplishing down-conversion, down-converting control signal A is applied at the gate terminal of field-effect transistor 265, while down-converting control signal !A is applied at the gate terminal of field-effect transistors 264 and 266. Similarly, down-converting control signal B is applied at the gate terminal of field-effect transistor 262, while down-converting control signal !B is applied at the gate terminal of field-effect transistors 261 and 263.

As previously mentioned, the down-converting control signals A, B, !A, and !B may be cycled at about twice the carrier frequency of the received signal thereby reducing DC offset introduced by the down-converting mixer 211. Additionally, second-order intermodulation product introduced by the down-converting mixer 211 may be reduced by the common mode rejection properties of downstream circuitry.

The low pass filter may be any passive low pass filter that includes one or mote poles. However, in the illustrated embodiment, filter 212 is a resistor-capacitor circuit that has a low pass frequency response for each of the differential input signals. As will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, the resistor-capacitor circuit has a frequency response that includes four poles. The low pass filter 212 may include resistors 271 through 276 and capacitors 277 through 287 configured as shown in FIG. 2A. By designing these resistor and capacitors with appropriate values, the position of those poles may be adjusted. In one embodiment, in order to obtain a high roll-off for better selectivity of the passed signal, the four poles are adjusted to be coincident so as to have an 80 dB/decade roll-off. The low pass filter 212 is a passive element and thus does not introduce new DC offset or 1/f noise into the signal, thereby preserving dynamic range.

The up-converting mixer 213 includes two input terminals, two output terminals, and four field-effect transistors 291 through 294. The field-effect transistor 291 has its channel region coupled between the upper input terminal and the lower output terminal of the up-converting mixer 213 and is controlled at its gate terminal by up-converting control signal E. The field-effect transistor 292 has its channel region coupled between the upper input terminal and the upper output terminal of the up-converting mixer 213 and is controlled at its gate terminal by up-converting control signal !E. The field-effect transistor 293 has its channel region coupled between the lower input terminal and the upper output terminal of the up-converting mixer 213 and is controlled at its gate terminal by up-converting control signal E. The field-effect transistor 294 has its channel region coupled between the lower input terminal and the lower output terminal of the up-converting mixer 213 and is controlled at its gate terminal by up-converting control signal !E.

FIG. 2B illustrates an alternative embodiment of the down-converting mixer 211 in the form of down-converting mixer 211B. The down-converting mixer 211B is similar to the down-converting mixer 211, except that the field effect transistors 261, 263, 264 and 266 are not present, and field effect transistors 262′ and 265′ replace transistors 262 and 265.

FIG. 2C illustrates a second alternative embodiment of the down-converting mixer 211 in the form of down-converting mixer 211C. The down-converting mixer 211C is similar to the down-converting mixer 211, except that the field effect transistors 262″ and 265″ replace transistors 262 and 265.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative structure 313 for the up-converting mixer 113. The up-converting mixer 313 includes field-effect transistors 391 through 394 which are configured the same as described above for respective transistors 291 through 294 in up-converting mixer 213. Additionally, the up-converting mixer 313 includes field-effect transistors 395 through 398 that have an opposite polarity as compared to respective field-effect transistors 391 through 394. For example, if field-effect transistors 391 through 394 are n-type field effect transistors as in the illustrated example, the field-effect transistors 395 through 398 would be p-type field effect transistors, and vice versa. Each of the field-effect transistors 395 through 398 are coupled between respective input terminal and respective output terminals as described above for corresponding field-effect transistors 291 through 294. In order to maximize dynamic range, the dc offsets at the input and output terminals of the up-converting mixer 313 should all be midway between the supply voltages Vdd and Vss.

Accordingly, a direct conversion receiver circuit has been described in which the characteristic problems associated with direct conversion receiver circuits are reduced. Specifically, dynamic range is preserved by reducing DC offset, 1/f noise, and second-order intermodulation product. This is accomplished by up-converting the down-converted baseband signal, and by operating on the down-converted signal using passive elements only at least prior to up-conversion, and by the down-converting mixers and up-converting mixers also being passive.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes, which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims, are to be embraced within their scope. 

1. A direct conversion receiver circuit comprising the following: a down-converting mixer that is configured to down-convert a received modulated signal to thereby generate a baseband signal; a low pass filter comprising a resister-capacitor circuit having at least one pole that is coupled to the down-converting mixer so as to filter high frequency components of the down-converted signal to thereby generate a filtered down-converted signal; an up-converting mixer that is coupled to the low pass filter so as to receive and up-convert the filtered down-converted signal, wherein there are no active components that operate on the down-converted baseband signal prior to being up-converted; an amplifier configured to receive and amplify the up-converted signal; and an up-converting local oscillator that is configured to generate a first up-conversion control signal and a second up-conversion control signal that represents a binary complement of the first up-conversion control signal, wherein the up-converting mixer comprises the following: a first and second input terminal and first and second output terminals; a first field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to a first output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the first field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the first field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal; a second field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the second field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the second field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; a third field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to a second output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the third field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the third field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; and a fourth field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the fourth field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the fourth field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal.
 2. A direct conversion receiver circuit in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer is capacitively coupled to a first input terminal of the amplifier, the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer being capacitively coupled to a second input terminal of the amplifier.
 3. A receiver circuit in accordance with claim 2, wherein a first output terminal of the amplifier is capacitively coupled to a first input terminal of a first band pass filter.
 4. A direct conversion receiver circuit comprising the following: an in-phase down-converting mixer that is configured to down-convert a received modulated signal to thereby generate an in-phase portion of a baseband signal; an in-phase low pass filter that is coupled to the in-phase down-converting mixer so as to filter high frequency components of the down-converted signal to thereby generate a filtered in-phase down-converted signal; an in-phase up-converting mixer that is coupled to the in-phase low pass filter so as to receive and up-convert the in-phase filtered down-converted signal, wherein there are no active components that operate on the in-phase down-converted baseband signal prior to being up-converted; an in-phase amplifier configured to receive and amplify the up-converted signal; a quadrature-phase down-converting mixer that is configured to down-convert the received modulated signal to thereby generate a quadrature-phase portion of the baseband signal; a quadrature-phase low pass filter that is coupled to the quadrature-phase down-converting mixer so as to filter high frequency components of the down-converted signal to thereby generate a filtered quadrature-phase down-converted signal; a quadrature-phase up-converting mixer that is coupled to the quadrature-phase low pass filter so as to receive and up-convert the filtered quadrature-phase down-converted signal, wherein there are no active components that operate on the quadrature-phase down-converted baseband signal prior to being up-converted; a quadrature-phase amplifier configured to receive and amplify the up-converted signal; and a down-converting local oscillator that is configured to generate a first down-conversion control signal a second down-conversion control signal that is approximately 180 degrees out of phase with the first down-conversion control signal, a third down-conversion control signal that represents a binary complement of the first down-conversion control signal, and a fourth down-conversion control signal that represents a binary complement of the second down-conversion control signal, wherein the in-phase down-converting mixer comprises: an input terminal and first and second output terminals; first, second, and third field-effect transistors coupled in series between the input terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer and the first output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer, the first, second and third field-effect transistors coupled to the down-converting local oscillator such that the first down-converting control signal is applied to a gate terminal of the second field-effect transistor, and such that the third down-converting control signal is applied to a gate terminal of the first and third field-effect transistors; and fourth, fifth, and sixth field-effect transistors coupled in series between the input terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer and the second output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer, the fourth, fifth, and sixth field-effect transistors coupled to the down-converting local oscillator such that the second down-converting control signal is applied to a gate terminal of the fifth field-effect transistor, and such that the fourth down-converting control signal is applied to a gate terminal of the fourth and sixth field-effect transistors.
 5. A direct conversion receiver circuit in accordance with claim 4, further comprising an up-converting local oscillator that is configured to generate a first up-conversion control signal and a second up-conversion control signal that represents a binary complement of the first up-conversion control signal, wherein the in-phase up-converting mixer comprises the following: a first and second input terminal and first and second output terminals; a seventh field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the first output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the seventh field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the in-phase up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the seventh field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal; an eighth field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the first output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the eighth field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the in-phase up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the eighth field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; a ninth field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the second output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the ninth field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the in-phase up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the ninth field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; a tenth field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the second output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the in-phase down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the tenth field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the in-phase up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the tenth field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal.
 6. A direct conversion receiver circuit comprising the following: a down-converting mixer that is configured to down-convert a received modulated signal to thereby generate a baseband signal; a low pass filter that is coupled to the down-converting mixer so as to filter high frequency components of the down-converted signal to thereby generate a filtered down-converted signal; an up-converting mixer that is coupled to the low pass filter so as to receive and up-convert the filtered down-converted signal, wherein there are no active components that operate on the down-converted baseband signal prior to being up-converted; an amplifier configured to receive and amplify the up-converted signal; and an up-converting local oscillator that is configured to generate a first up-conversion control signal and a second up-conversion control signal that represents a binary complement of the first up-conversion control signal, wherein the up-converting mixer comprises the following: a first and second input terminal and first and second output terminals; a first nMOSFET having a source or drain terminal coupled to a first output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the first field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the first field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal; a second nMOSFET having a source or drain terminal coupled to the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the second field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer a gate terminal of the second field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; a third nMOSFET having a source or drain terminal coupled to a second output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the third field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the third field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; a fourth nMOSFET having a source or drain terminal coupled to the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the fourth field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer a gate terminal of the fourth field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal; a first p-type field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the first p-type field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the first p-type field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; a second p-type field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the second p-type field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer a gate terminal of the second p-type field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal; a third p-type field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the third p-type field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer a gate terminal of the third p-type field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal; and a fourth p-type field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the fourth p-type field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the fourth p-type field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal.
 7. A direct conversion receiver circuit comprising the following: a down-converting mixer that is configured to down-convert a received modulated signal to thereby generate a baseband signal; a low pass filter comprising a resister-capacitor circuit having four poles that is coupled to the down-converting mixer so as to filter high frequency components of the down-converted signal to thereby generate a filtered down-converted signal; an up-converting mixer that is coupled to the low pass filter so as to receive and up-convert the filtered down-converted signal wherein there are no active components that operate on the down-converted baseband signal prior to being up-converted; an amplifier configured to receive and amplify the up-converted signal; and an up-converting local oscillator that is configured to generate a first up-conversion control signal and a second up-conversion control signal that represents a binary complement of the first up-conversion control signal, wherein the up-converting mixer comprises the following: a first and second input terminal and first and second output terminals; a first field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to a first output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the first field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the first field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal; a second field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the first output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the second field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the second field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; a third field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to a second output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the third field-effect transistor coupled to the first output terminal of the up-converting mixer, a gate terminal of the third field-effect transistor configured to receive the first up-converting control signal; and a fourth field-effect transistor having a source or drain terminal coupled to the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer so as to receive at least a filtered version of the signal provided on the second output terminal of the down-converting mixer, the other of the source or drain terminal of the fourth field-effect transistor coupled to the second output terminal of the up-converting mixer a gate terminal of the fourth field-effect transistor configured to receive the second up-converting control signal. 